Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36244359›Full record

ArticleThe lancet. Psychiatry2022

Psychological distress, depression, anxiety, and life satisfaction following COVID-19 infection: evidence from 11 UK longitudinal population studies.

Ellen J Thompson, Jean Stafford, Bettina Moltrecht, Charlotte F Huggins, Alex S F Kwong, Richard J Shaw, Paola Zaninotto, Kishan Patel, Richard J Silverwood, Eoin McElroy and 12 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in The lancet. Psychiatry, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
36citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

36 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Educating during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Educator Perspective on Mental Health.Disaster medicine and public health preparedness · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Mental Health Concerns in Patients with COVID-19: A Network Analysis.Psychology research and behavior management · 2025
    Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Portrait of mental health identified by people with the post-covid syndrome.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2024
    Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

22 authors.

Ellen J ThompsonDepartment of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, School of Life Course and Population Sciences, King's College London, London, UK.
Jean StaffordMRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing, University College London, London, UK. Electronic address: j.stafford@ucl.ac.uk.
Bettina MoltrechtCentre for Longitudinal Studies, University College London, London, UK.
Charlotte F HugginsCentre for Genomic and Experimental Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Alex S F KwongDivision of Psychiatry, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Richard J ShawMRC/CSO Social & Public Health Sciences Unit, School of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
Paola ZaninottoDepartment of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, UK.
Kishan PatelMRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing, University College London, London, UK.
Richard J SilverwoodCentre for Longitudinal Studies, University College London, London, UK.
Eoin McElroySchool of Psychology, Ulster University, Ulster, UK.
Matthias PierceDivision of Psychology and Mental Health, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
Michael J GreenMRC/CSO Social & Public Health Sciences Unit, School of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
Ruth C E BowyerDepartment of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, School of Life Course and Population Sciences, King's College London, London, UK.
Jane MaddockMRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing, University College London, London, UK.
Kate TillingPopulation Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
S Vittal KatikireddiMRC/CSO Social & Public Health Sciences Unit, School of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
George B PloubidisCentre for Longitudinal Studies, University College London, London, UK.
David J PorteousCentre for Genomic and Experimental Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Nic TimpsonPopulation Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
Nish ChaturvediMRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing, University College London, London, UK.
Claire J StevesDepartment of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, School of Life Course and Population Sciences, King's College London, London, UK.
Praveetha PatalayMRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing, University College London, London, UK; Centre for Longitudinal Studies, University College London, London, UK.

Funding

Medical Research Council MC_PC_20030Medical Research Council MC_PC_20059
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundEvidence on associations between COVID-19 illness and mental health is mixed. We aimed to examine whether COVID-19 is associated with deterioration in mental health while considering pre-pandemic mental health, time since infection, subgroup differences, and confirmation of infection via self-reported test and serology data.

methodsWe obtained data from 11 UK longitudinal studies with repeated measures of mental health (psychological distress, depression, anxiety, and life satisfaction; mental health scales were standardised within each study across time) and COVID-19 status between April, 2020, and April, 2021. We included participants with information available on at least one mental health outcome measure and self-reported COVID-19 status (suspected or test-confirmed) during the pandemic, and a subset with serology-confirmed COVID-19. Furthermore, only participants who had available data on a minimum set of covariates, including age, sex, and pre-pandemic mental health were included. We investigated associations between having ever had COVID-19 and mental health outcomes using generalised estimating equations. We examined whether associations varied by age, sex, ethnicity, education, and pre-pandemic mental health, whether the strength of the association varied according to time since infection, and whether associations differed between self-reported versus confirmed (by test or serology) infection.

findingsBetween 21 Dec, 2021, and July 11, 2022, we analysed data from 54 442 participants (ranging from a minimum age of 16 years in one study to a maximum category of 90 years and older in another; including 33 200 [61·0%] women and 21 242 [39·0%] men) from 11 longitudinal UK studies. Of 40 819 participants with available ethnicity data, 36 802 (90·2%) were White. Pooled estimates of standardised differences in outcomes suggested associations between COVID-19 and subsequent psychological distress (0·10 [95% CI 0·06 to 0·13], I

interpretationSelf-reporting COVID-19 was longitudinally associated with deterioration in mental health and life satisfaction. Our findings emphasise the need for greater post-infection mental health service provision, given the substantial prevalence of COVID-19 in the UK and worldwide.

fundingUK Medical Research Council and UK National Institute for Health and Care Research.

Indexed as

COVID-19Psychological DistressAdolescentAgedAnxietyDepressionFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMaleMiddle AgedPersonal SatisfactionUnited Kingdom

Identifiers

PMID36244359
PMCPMC9560745

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.